HIGHROCK NORTH SHORE SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS
loving incarnationally in salem by pastor aaron engler
A few Thursdays ago I got a phone call from a stranger I had never met before. A friend of a friend of a friend got wind that there were a few Iraqi war refugees living in Salem, and that they were really struggling to adapt to living here in town, mostly because they didn’t speak any English.
couldn’t show residency without a place to live, which they couldn’t get without government help. They were stuck in a Catch-22, trapped in the prison of 1990’s era Honda Odyssey with nowhere to go.
over the world like we normally do, the Overseers of our church canceled their normal monthly meeting and did something they considered more important - cleaning the toilet for a family of immigrant Muslims.
This friend of a friend had heard about our desire to serve our neighbors here in town and so he called me to ask if I’d be willing to meet one of the families. And when I found out that they lived in the Point neighborhood - the primary area of our mercy, justice and compassion focus - I knew I had to meet them.
They literally needed one place to stay for the one month of September so they could get one utility bill in their name. That was it.
We gathered together with brooms and bananas, cleaning supplies and carrots, a bed and some blankets, and in partnership with the North Shore CDC, got a family into an apartment and into a bed for the first time in weeks.
Sure enough, the minute I walked in the door, my new Iraqi friend, Ali, said he recognized me. When I asked where from, his answer was that he and his kids met me at the party in the Point on the 4th of July. The same party that the Boys and Girls Club organized and that many North Shore Highrockers staffed. Now, that’s already a cool connection... but it gets cooler yet. Turns out that Ali also invited a half dozen other families to come meet with us as well. One of which was a 32-year old refugee named Sapin. After a quick conversation, I found out that Sapin, his wife, his five-year old son, and one-year old daughter had all been living and sleeping in their van for over a week, essentially living off of bottled water and peanut butter crackers. They were eligible for refugee housing placement if they could show Massachusetts residency, but they
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And this is but a first to what I hope will be hundreds of similar stories all carrying the same theme: that a group of Highrockers wanted to Honor God by Loving Jesus, Serving Salem and Celebrating Life. Highrock Members participating at the local Boys & Girls Club
So knowing some people at the North Shore Community Development Coalition, I hoofed it down there and spoke with one of the property directors. And wouldn’t you know it, but out of the almost 300 units they manage, they just happened to have just one apartment available for just the one month of September!
Born and raised in rural Minnesota, Aaron Engler recently began as head pastor of newly planted Highrock North Shore, in Salem, MA. His wife Ariel, is a native of the North Shore.
Salem, MA
But what the North Shore CDC didn’t have were the bodies available on short notice to get the place prepared for a family to settle in. And my response was, “if you have a place, I can get the bodies.” And so that night, rather than sitting around a table plotting how to take
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Visit Highrock North Shore Covenant Church on the web: www.highrocknorthshore.org
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